The Virnosian Rebellion

The Virnosian Rebellion was a dangerous cocktail that had been brewing for generations, but was kickstarted by two main events: Virnos losing the Third Virnosian War and a massive explosion that leveled thousands of homes in the city. While these two events started the rebellion, it wouldn't have been possible without generations of mistreatment of the people of Virnos at the hands of the Order of Technomancy, which used the city as a whole as second class citizens.
The rebellion started small at first but soon grew into an uncontrollable fire that engulfed the city and its surrounding territories. By 755 2A, the rebellion had grown to include thousands upon thousands of members and sympathizers split between three primary groups: the Children of the Republic (led by Gareth Pancem, Talina Vran, and some other upstanding citizens), The People's Army of Virnos (led by a chosen group of citizens), and the True Virnosians (led by Malica Rischer, a former Technomancer).
The rebellion continued to build momentum over three years, until the city was in a state of near open war. The rebellion split into factions and eventually culminated during 755's Technomancy Day, a local holiday. The last Grand Magus of Virnos was to give a speech, and the united rebel groups used the day to strike.
At the end of the day with most of the city burning, Atresa was able to march it's army straight to the Grand Magus's palace and annex Virnos wholesale with barely any shots fired on their end. The Virnosian rebellion ended not with glorious liberation, but annexation.

The Conflict

Prelude

For generations there had been friction between the working class of Virnos and its upper class, mostly made up of the Order of Technomancy. Many saw that the people were more or less pawns to the Grand Magus and his order, and were not looked after as other Fallen Cities looked after their people. This came to a head following the brief Third Virnosian War, which saw Virnos utterly embarrassed and defeated by the supposedly inferior Atresa. This soon combined with a large explosion in the city that saw thousands die and the government incapable of doing much to help, and soon the city was a powder keg of resentment.

The Engagement

The initial rebellion was a flashy protest that was brutally put down by the Virnosian Army. While the government thought the brutality on display, backed by its advanced military technology, would be enough, this turned out to not be true. Things kept escalating as more and more people flocked to the rebellions banner and began to attack military patrols, outposts, and government buildings.
Within the first year, nearly a dozen lower priority military buildings had been burned, sacked, or blown up. And soon, with the help of the supposedly dead Vonrig Blastkeg and some military deserters, the rebels began to be equipped with flintlocks and automatons to aid their cause.
The rebellion began to coalesce around three primary factions:

• The Children of the Republic, a rebel faction led notably by Gareth Pancem, Talina Vran, and a few others who wished to see the city take on a more representative form of government while keeping some of its militarism and economical benefits.
• The True Virnosians. The smallest group led by Malica Rischer who wished to see the current government simply replaced with a new one of the same organization, but under new management.
• And the People's Army of Virnos, a radical faction that wanted to completely abolish the Virnosian system and replace it with one where everyone was on equal footing and had an equal say in governance.

The three factions more or less avoided conflict with each other, but small skirmishes between supporters of the factions were not uncommon.
In 755 2A, for a time Gareth Pancem went missing, leading the Children somewhat off balance. This changed with the arrival of The Wayfarers, who (allegedly with help from The Green Guard) helped find and free Gareth from his brief imprisonment.
This led to a cascade of situations and complications. The Wayfarer's proved quite capable of stirring the pot while the rebel groups gathered to hold a conference to decide the strategy for the final overthrow of the government. Before this though, the Rangers of Virnos, who had appeared to be supporting the government until then, had schism that saw half of the order trying to kill the other half that tried to stay away from the conflict. Further, skirmishes broke out between the Virnosian Army and the Virnosian Navy, as the Navy had taken to docking at the primary naval berths and not participating either on the rebel side or the governments side, merely protecting anyone inside the docks.
When the so called "Council of Freedoms" was held in the Pancem bakeries basement, not only did the rebel groups come but the non-loyalist Rangers and Virnosian Navy also saw themselves showing up to discussions, along with The Wayfarers.
The exact nature of this council has had several conflicting accounts about what transpired, but the general plan as it is understood now is that the rebellion would hit the government all at once during Technomancy Day, a major local holiday. During this time a smaller group of rebels would sneak into the palace and capture/kill the Grand Magus and the strange Technomancy that protected him from harm. Before the battle started, the non-loyalist rangers and Jayllin Tano apparently helped sabotage the massive air-dreadnoughts that floated over the city, keeping the rebellion from widespread action.
Scarcely a few days before Technomancy Day, the Virnosian Army pulled most of its border defenses in temporarily to reinforce the city, and leveled the portion of the city that the Children of the Republic called home, including the Pancem Bakery. Intended to remove a threat this action only rallied more people to the rebels cause.
When Technomancy Day came the rebellion attacked during the Grand Magus's. He had tried to use the speech to show the power of the air-dreadnoughts in leveling the areas of the city that the rebellion had hidden in, but found out that the air-dreadnoughts were non-operational.
Fighting broke out throughout the city, especially in front of the palace and in the Technomancy Quarter. Fighting was fierce and especially bloody, with countless thousands falling throughout the day on both sides. The Virnosian Navy also chose its side during this time, firing on the Virnosian Army. The Wayfarers are also recorded as fighting on the front lines with the rebellion in the palace district.
The day would come to a climax when the air-dreadnoughts came back online and leveled the airdocks district, where the People's Army had called home, and an old warehouse district, where the True Virnosians had been hiding. While The Wayfarer's fought the Grand Magus to the ground, a large portion of the Atresan Army marched into the city, or flew on airships, and began to disable the air-dreadnoughts and take control of the city.
The army had been led by Primor Tutiro Cam, who then declared to both the defeated Grand Magus and the victorious rebel groups that Atresa would be taking control of the Fallen City for its own protection.
The Virnosian Rebellion, as well as Virnos as a sovereign nation, came to an end at the same exact moment.

Outcome

Atresa was quick to get Virnos under control, but the city had been massively damaged with a great loss in life. The Atresan army would occupy the city in force for months to ensure peace. Meanwhile Tutiro made a makeshift council to rule the city (with Atresan oversight) for the time being. Further, the loyal Rangers of Virnos and Technomancers absconded with one of the air-dreadnoughts and left for greener pastures during the battle, leaving the Grand Magus to his fate.

Aftermath

The Virnosian Rebellion would see the effective dissolution of the Virnosian State. In its place would come three different visions of Virnos. For a brief time the city would be ruled by a mixture of martial law and local governance. After the Year of the Dragon came to an end, the local appointed council would be replaced with the Citizen's Representative Council of Virnos, an elected body. And later after the Rischer Crisis, it would eventually settle into its current state as a pseudo-province/protectorate ruled by the Virnosian Senate.
Further, the involvement of The Wayfarers would, in a roundabout way, lead to Atresa, Virnosian, and Ibrim involvement in the Tharrisian War and the Battle of 14 Nations. Not to mention the increased diplomatic ties to the eastern side of the continent.
The Rebellion would also lead to the dissolution of several institutions in the city, such as the Rangers of Virnos and Order of Technomancy, the latter of which would be replaced with the New Technomancers. The Knights of Virnos would also be dissolved, as it was discovered during the rebellion that their creation involved the use of demons in a way that neither the Atresan Government nor the new Virnosian one wants to truly disclose.

Historical Significance

Legacy

The Virnosian Rebellion would become known as the moment in history that began the rise of Atresa as a continent super power. While the Third Virnosian War had been the true start of it, the rebellion was the domino most people recognize as Atresa would soon come to rule most of the Eastern Continent via its annexation of Virnos and its later occupation of both Ibrim and a large portion of The Nation of Ghosts.

Battlefield Type

Urban

Start Date

752 2A

Ending Date

755 2A

Conflict Result

Rebel "victory", Atresan Annex of Virnos

Location

Virnos